Credit Card Fraud
An email about possible credit card frauds was sent to me. I cannot verify its authenticity, or whether it is an urban legend.
However, just take some steps to protect yourself from credit card fraud.
1. There are some break-ins at the lockers at local gyms, so be careful of which gym you frequent and whether there is ample security. According to the email, a card was swapped with an expired card from the same bank without the person knowing.
It was only after some time that the person realized it and the crook had run up a hefty bill. Perhaps when we carry many credit cards, we may not use some of them sometimes and hence we do not check them. Hence, it is wise to check them once in a while, or monitor your credit card billings through Internet Banking, since the charges usually appear quite quickly.
2. Check your credit card before you leave after payment. Sometimes genuine mistakes might have been made by the restaurant or they might have swapped your card with an expired one. Sometimes, they might have mixed up your card with that of another customer.
When I was at the gym recently, the guy at the counter returned to me another customer’s card instead of mine. It would have caused considerable inconvenience to the two of us, and I usually did not check my returned card. I happened to look at the card because it had a picture of a man, and hence the mistake was quickly rectified. For credit cards, the problem would have been more serious.
3. In the third scenario, the cashier took a picture of the person’s credit card using his handphone. It sounds a little ludicrous for the cashier to be doing this while having the customer right in front of him, so I am not sure how real this situation could be.
For your information, if you use online transactions, apart from all the details on the front of your card, you need to know the 3-digit code that is at the back. It would be futile for the cashier to use this information.
No matter how much truth there are to the stories, just make it a habit to check your cards are returned. It is also prudent to check your credit card billings online weekly, to check that the correct amount has been billed. However, banks would only protect the customer from fraud if customers call the banks before any fraudulent payments had been made.
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[…] The second thing she did was to call the bank up. It turned out that she was a victim of online credit card fraud. The charge was reversed. This means the merchant who was cheated would have to absorb the loss. […]